What’s the reason for the criticism?

Sunday

Jun 27, 2010 at 12:01 AM

Recently, we are bombarded daily with criticism of President Barack Obama’s handling of the oil-spill crisis.Just what is expected of the president — must he put on his Superman cape, dive below the water surface and cap the spill personally?This will not happen, but it appears that unreal expectations are placed on this particular president’s head without rational causes for an unprecedented event.When one thinks of group uprisings such as the tea party, gun-rights advocates, birthers, militia and the others, it would cause one to wonder: Is it this president’s policies and character or is it his ethnicity that fuels all of this hatred toward him.Sorry, but I am inclined to believe the latter.Additionally, it was stated on our local TV station that the parish president himself voiced broad negativity toward President Obama based on a question by the TV host that was knowingly phrased to receive a negative response.The question was why he had not been invited to one of President Obama’s initial southeast Louisiana visits?That was an inappropriate question to ask.Also, in retrospect, the parish president should recall the time of Hurricane Gustav when he himself was criticized beyond belief (even over the airways in Houston, Texas) for giving authority to people who were knowledgeable in hurricane preparation and recovery actions.But he was then also criticized for lacking leadership and eventually was threatened with a recall effort.The parish president should please remember what it felt like and try to avoid negativity during unprecedented events.In closing, the president’s Oval Office address was an attempt to paint a broad picture of the administration’s plan to address personal financial losses of coastal residents and all legitimately affected businesses.At Wednesday morning’s meeting with BP’s top executives, he did a very good job in negotiations.A.J. McGuireGray

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